In this April 11, 2014, photo, Tony Stewart stands in the garage during practice for a NASCAR Sprint Cup series auto race at Darlington Speedway in Darlington, S.C. Authorities are investigating a serious crash that injured one person Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, at a New York dirt track where Stewart was racing on the eve of a NASCAR race. (Mike McCarn - Associated Press)

Before Sunday night's racing program at Susquehanna Speedway Park in Newberry Township, track owner Todd Fisher spoke to the competitors during the drivers' meeting.

"I put it out to our drivers yesterday, I said, 'Let's briefly talk about the Tony Stewart incident,'" Fisher said. "Honestly, each and every one of us is responsible for his own actions."

Fisher was referring to Saturday night at Canandaigua Motorsports Park in New York, where 20-year-old Kevin Ward Jr. was killed after being struck by the car driven by Stewart.

Reports indicate Ward's car was spun out by Stewart during a heated race. Ward got out of his car to confront the NASCAR star, and he was struck by Stewart's car.

"The whole thing was a horrible tragedy," said Allen Kreitzer, one of three promoters at Lincoln Speedway in Berwick Township outside Abbottstown. "All of us have attended races over the years where a driver has gotten out of the car and expressed displeasure with another driver. In all of those occasions, I don't believe a driver put himself in harm's way."

As track announcer at Lincoln and communications director at Trail-Way Speedway in Union Township, Wayne Harper has seen more than 1,500 dirt track races and has watched as tempers flared on the track, including drivers throwing steering wheels and other things at each other. After watching the video of the Saturday's incident, Harper called it "an absolute accident."

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"I watched the tape, my impression was Tony tried to accelerate around him," he said. "It's very tragic and I feel for this Ward kid and his family. I feel for Tony Stewart and sprint car racing."

The incident attracted more publicity because it involved Stewart, one of auto racing's most polarizing figures.

"You would hear about this as a blip through the local speedway. It's nationalized because it involved Tony Stewart," said Fisher. Stewart raced twice at SSP last season, Fisher said, adding that the driver's reputation as an aggressor instigates more of the hype.

"Without question, the reason this is news is because of who was involved," Kreitzer agreed.

That fact adds to something that bothers Harper, who said it seems the only time sprint car racing gets national attention is when an incident happens.

"There are a lot of unfair things in this," he said. "Most of the analysis has been horrible. Most of national media have never been to a sprint car race and don't have a clue."

Of course, driver confrontations happen in nearly all levels of racing. It's part of the sport and not as easy to legislate as it might seem. One Lincoln Speedway rule states that if a driver gets out of his car during a yellow flag caution, he is disqualified for that race.

Still, as Kreitzer pointed out, there are too many variables to force drivers to stay in the car if it stops on the track, especially after a crash that might involve fire. A driver simply might feel safer outside the car.

"Not to diminish the tragedy, but (Ward) should have stayed with the car," Kreitzer said. "You can't legislate rules for common sense. You have to be realistic about events that take place. You don't want this case to color 99.9 percent of the incidents that occur."

Plus, there is the human element of competition.

"If you sanitize the sport enough, it's not a sport," Fisher said. "We as officials have to balance all the time the competitiveness compared to control chaos. Guys lose their heads. It was an unusual circumstance for driver to get out of the car on the track."

The local speedway representatives didn't have answers to questions such as: Was the track too dark, and did Ward's all-black racing suit hamper visibility? Did Stewart do all he could to avoid contact?

Kreitzer said he was confident in one thing.

"I am 100 percent convinced that Tony Stewart had no bad intent in this situation," he said. "Why would he? It just occurred."